The best part about donating to and shopping at Goodwill? You’re directly supporting the creation of full-time jobs, right here in our community.

History

Goodwill was founded in 1902 in Boston by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator. Helms collected used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired those who were poor to mend and repair the used goods. The goods were then resold or were given to the people who repaired them. The system worked, and the Goodwill philosophy of “Not Charity, but a Chance” was born.

Dr. Helms’ vision set an early course for what today has become a $5.59 billion nonprofit organization. Helms described Goodwill Industries as an “industrial program as well as a social service enterprise…a provider of employment, training and rehabilitation for people of limited employability, and a source of temporary assistance for individuals whose resources were depleted.”

Times have changed, but Helms’ vision remains constant: “We have courage and are unafraid. With the prayerful cooperation of millions of our bag contributors and of our workers, we will press on till the curse of poverty and exploitation is banished from mankind.”

In 1964 Goodwill Industries of South Central California came to Kern County and opened its very first retail store on the corner of 19th and Q Streets in Bakersfield. As of 2017, GISCC now operates ten stores throughout Kern, Kings and southern Tulare Counties.